of a court headquarters until 1854 when a brick building was put up at the same time a brick jail was built on the block east of the southwest corner of the courthouse square. The building was erected from brick manufactured near the city and was two stories high and was paid for largely from the sale of lots fronting the public square which were donated by James Clark, the founder, and his widow, Mrs. Isabella H. Gordon. The courthouse answered the purpose fairly well until 1884. They began and made arrangements of direction of the present courthouse. The present courthouse, built of stone, was completed and occupied by court officials in 1887. The erection of the building, however, was in 1884. The old courthouse square or plaza is now being used for parking spaces.

The City of Clarksville at the beginning of settlement depended almost entirely for water on springs and wells and, as was always the case, these sources of water supply were more or less contaminated.

As stated in the beginning of this history, Clarksville was the educational center of all this part of Texas, what was then the Indian Territory, a large portion of the territory of Arkansas, and western Louisiana. The curriculum of Clarksville schools from the standpoint of the higher branches of education then surpassed any of the State universities of the south. Today the schools of Clarksville are affiliated with the University of